About the Poet

Monday, November 14, 2016

Dear Universal 'Racist White Man’, Violence Presupposes Fear (Part I)

Photo: Ibrahim AlRabeh

Now that I have your attention, I’m going to say that I will from now on refer to you as European or European-X (you can pluck in your country if you are outside Europe). I don’t fancy the idea of referring to people as ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘brown’, ‘yellow’... as if people are goats, chicken and cattle. I don’t know what was wrong with your ancestors but they fancied colors like the love of kinder kids with crayons. But, hey, they were very funny, I tell you. Using the same color [black] to refer to Colin Powell and John Kufuor is hilarious.

But seriously, identities should be forged from cultures not from color as if we are kinder children. Color-Identity is childish; don’t you think? It’s 2016 not 1549 or something. Well, I know you fancy the past for obvious reasons.

But listen to me! We are all Human Beings. That’s a cliché I know, but it’ll soon be clear why I say that. I’m sorry to be pedantic but we all get jealous, angry, proud, fearful, hungry, sick and above all, we pee, pooh, and also die. Raise your hand if you are ultra-human and don’t go through those things. Nah! I see all your hands down! That I believe is a reasonable assumption you can agree with.

Left: John Kufuor; Right Colin Powell

But before I go on, I need to apologize to the good-hearted, the reasonable and the socially-grounded amongst you…if this offends you then I’m sorry! But remember, I’m always discriminated against and I’m regularly called a monkey, an ape, a gorilla so I think you would understand the point of my message.

Recently a one Pamela Ramsey Taylor (seconded by her friend, Clay Mayor, Beverly Whaling of West Virginia, USA) threw an after-frustration mental party for she was happy that First Lady, Michelle Obama, who’s soon leaving the ‘White House’, wasn’t beautiful and classy. In her words, she thinks Mrs. Obama is ‘a [sic] ape in heels.’ This is actually a point of view held by many of you, the racist, Neo-Nazis and Eurocentric-ultra-nationalists.

After Pamela’s and Beverly’s comments, the activists, conscientious Americans and Civil Rights folks became outraged. I wasn’t and cannot be outraged. This might come as a surprise to you. And this too is going to anger Africans and all African-Xs in the world. (Note: In my country, we use first names not family names formally…this respects genders, don’t you think? Last names make the world appear 100% male).

Now, let’s come back to the reason why I wasn’t outraged by the ‘ape’ insinuation. First of all, you know what you are saying is a natural fallacy but you say it anyway. Sartre would call that 'Bad Faith.' You only say it because it makes you feel good. It nostalgically takes you to the past your ancestors had built. However, I feel sorry for you because that past will not, and can never come back. Trump will soon face that bitter reality! You will dream about it until kingdom come. I cannot get angry at you because you are struggling with a changing world; a world you don’t want to change but it’s changing.

I am not also outraged because you are afraid of me. There’s something in me you fear. You think what you hate about me is my physical appearance but no, it's my mind. Biko put it well, that "the most potent weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." Why should I be outraged at a fearful person who’s rationalized the world in a manner that’ll only do one thing to him: stress him out. The sight of me doesn't make you afraid. Well, it does if I am some African giants! My achievements make you tremble. So why should I be outraged at you when you are trying to portray your being as a mere human being with insecurities of the universal man. I am not going to be outraged at a man who’s scared out of his mind. Your hatred and fear of me is your tactical, survivalist being-in-the-world as Heidegger would say.

I am not also outraged at what you say about me because it’s your state of mind. It’s part of what gives you a sense of importance, that I am less than you because you say so not because it is naturally so. And you will keep that state of mind regardless of what I say about it. So getting angry at you will give you an impression that you’ve said something to me. No, you’ve not. You’re saying something about yourself; that you are not secure in your skin. Calling me an ape or a monkey is a deflection of your fears, insecurities, and inferiorities. Telling you ‘don’t call me an ape’ is a waste of time. You’re not the guardian of my emotions so I wouldn’t expect you to stop it. And even if you stop saying it, there’s no guarantee that you’ll not think it or discuss it with your kids and friends in the comfort of your home.

If you are secure enough in your skin and believe in the greatness of your people, then calling me names isn’t helping your greatness. But if you know that you’re great as a special racial group and that calling me name is a methodological parameter meant to make me feel insecure about myself and therefore easy to control, then I think we’ll in the future stamp out discrimination based on race. You're just scared of the African Person to the point that you don't want to know her.

Those Africans and African-Xs, who get mad when you call them names are only giving you undue emotional power over them. They know you hate them yet they expect you to respect their feelings. I don’t know what they think! They expect what they don’t expect! Am I blaming them! No! I’m telling them the fact that you always hurled nonsense against them and they feel sorry for themselves when they know very well that what you say is racial nonsense.

This is my introduction to you. The next essay will address the issue of calling me a monkey, an ape or a gorilla. You’ll get to learn that we all share in some form of monkeyness. You can read “Is ‘Black’ Really Beautiful?” is you want to be ahead of me. It addresses the issue of ‘monkeyness.’ See you in the next article. But Remember, I can never hate you because I cannot hate a fearful person, a person who needs my help in fighting fear.

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Leadership, given what is happening now in South Sudan, and generally in Africa, fascinates me. And it fascinates me not in a good way but because of the sociopolitical and socioeconomic ills facing the African continent and most of the so-called 'Third World.' To me, South Sudan, now, is a classic case.Rebellion by disaffected politico-military leaders and repression by the government of South Sudan in Juba have stunted institutional development and leadership growth. This has made service provision almost irrelevant as political survival has taken primacy and supremacy. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

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SELF-ESTEEM AND DISCRIMINATION

As someone who grew up in war conditions and lived as a refugee for a long time, I'm sometimes considered by many people in the 'west' to be prone to (or have) low self-esteem, be poor or illiterate. Living as refugees or displaced persons, who depended on the good will of others put people in a situation where they don't think much about themselves. But that's not everyone though.

As I stood by our front desk at my place work talking about Race and Identity in relation to my book, Is 'Black' Really Beautiful?, the issue of why many African peoples in North America become so over-sensitive when racial issues come up! For many rational people, this owes its origin to slavery and racial segregation.

But one of my coworkers, a person of European descent, was surprised to realize that her 'black' friend, a very intelligent woman, easily becomes irritated by simple things she [friend] considers racist. The friend considers any mention of a watermelon racist; and complains a lot about 'whiteprivilege.' This means that discrimination is considered something 'whites' don't face because of 'white privilege.' In any discussion between 'blacks' and 'whites', 'white privilege' issue comes up!

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